Pedro I ‘Coronation Piece’ Leads Heritage Auctions’ CICF Offerings

An extraordinary Brazilian Pedro I gold Coronation 6,400 Reis of 1822R, just one of 64 minted, provides a historic and emotional anchor to the 5,300-plus-lot Heritage Auctions’ World & Ancient Coins CICF Signature® Auction, April 26-30, at the Crowne Plaza O’Hare, in Rosemont, Ill. It is expected to bring more than $100,000.

The auction will take place in a total of six sessions across six days, starting with Ancient Coins on Wednesday, April 25, followed by four floor sessions of World Coins, Thursday-Saturday, April 26-28, and closing with two days of Non-Floor sessions of more than 2,500 lots on Monday, April 30 and Tuesday, May 1.

“The incredibly rare Pedro I 6,400 Reis gold of 1822 is, undoubtedly, the most important and charismatic piece of Brazilian numismatics,” said Cristiano Bierrenbach, Executive Vice President of Heritage Auctions. “It was a coronation piece, made in a hurry to be presented to guests of honor at Pedro’s Inauguration Ball on Dec. 1, 1822. It was subsequently redesigned as the Emperor disliked the design of his portrayal on the coin as a ‘Roman Emperor’ and in coins of 1823, he appears in full military regalia.”

“Pedro I was a member of the exiled Portuguese Royal Family,” said Bierrenbach, “and was a widely beloved figure in Brazil. By early 1822 he had become a popular leader amongst the Brazilian population. On Sept. 7, 1822, the Portuguese sent notice it wouldn’t accept self-governance in Brazil and would punish all who disobeyed. It took Pedro but a few seconds to make a decision. Mounted on his horse, by the banks of the Ipiranga River in Sao Paulo, Pedro declared, ‘Friends, the Portuguese Cortes wished to enslave and persecute us. As of today our bonds are ended. By my blood, by my honor, by my God, I swear to bring about the independence of Brazil. Brazilians, let our watchword from this day forth be ‘Independence or Death!’ Since then, Brazilians have celebrated their Independence Day on Sept. 7.”

The CICF sale commences with an offering of Ancient Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins, including selections from the Mayflower Collection of Roman Republican coins.

“This was a remarkably comprehensive collection assembled over 20 years by a relative of the archaeologist who discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls,” said David Michaels, Director of Ancient Coins for Heritage. “The collection is notable not only for its completeness, with at least one coin for nearly every year between 169 BC and 42 BC, but for its uniformly high quality, including many rarities in superb condition – among them a beautiful and nearly complete set of the ‘Muse’ silver denarii struck by Q. Pomponius Musa in 56 BC.”

Totaling more than 900 lots, the CICF auction is Heritage’s largest-ever offering of Ancient coins.

The Heritage CICF Auction also presents the company’s deepest offering of fine British coins since the category’s inception – news which will excite British collectors worldwide.

“The Marston Collection of British coins includes a wide array of wonderful hammered and milled gold, led by a Charles I gold Triple Unite 1643 VF35 NGC, estimated at $55,000-plus,” said Warren Tucker, Vice President of World Coins at Heritage. “The collection also has about a dozen 5 Guineas pieces, a Cromwell Broad, early Sovereigns and Rose-Ryals. In total, 130 British gold rarities are included in this fine collection.”

Heritage is also offering a range of early milled silver pieces in top choice or gem mint state conditions, including 17th and 18th Century Crowns, Halfcrowns and minors. The total British offering stands at almost 700 lots.

Russian gold is consistently popular with World Coin collectors and the Heritage CICF Auction will give aficionados plenty to celebrate as a Russia Gold 2 Ducats 1714 Novodel Bit-H19 AU58 NGC comes across the block with a $35,000-plus pre-auction estimate and a Russian Gold 10 Roubles 1910 PF65 NGC, a very rare issue, comes to auction with a $15,000-plus pre-auction estimate.

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Letters to the Editor (Oct. 3, 2017) Good palladium buying opportunities hard to find
When the U.S. starts minting its palladium Eagle, it will be in good company with the Canadian Maple Leaf, Chinese Panda, Russian Ballerina, Bermudian Sea Venture, Cook Island (New Zealand) Meteorite, et al. It is not surprising that the U.S. Mint feels it needs to compete for market share.
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